This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Anonymous writes: Quick question: How do you handle and resume that is now 2 pages… no way around the second page…have to turn in Friday and I am stumped!!
There is nothing wrong with established job-seekers having a two-page resume. Even some exceptional recent college grads may need two pages to showcase all their accomplishments, skills, education/training, and talents and abilities.
In fact, it’s much better to have a two-page resume with normal margins and font size than to try and condense all your information onto one page using narrow margins and tiny type, virtually guaranteeing that no employer is going to even bother trying to read it.
Here are some rules about writing a two-page resume. First, if you need to go to a second page, do so. Just be sure that the second page is at least half full; anything less, and you should find a way to cut/condense to make the information fit on one page. Second, be careful not to divide elements from page one to page two; in other words, do not start a section on page one that carries over to page two. Third, be sure to include a header at the top of the second page identifying it as page two of your resume. Fourth, do not even consider going to a third page.
Some other general rules of resume-writing: focus (and quantify whenever possible) on accomplishments rather than job duties or responsibilities; showcase transferable skills when your work experience has been outside the traditional path; consider a functional style over a (traditional) chronological format when changing careers; consider leaving dates off college degrees to avoid age discrimination.
Find lots more information, articles, tutorials, and resources in the Resume and CV Resources section of Quintessential Careers.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Anonymous writes: Quick question: How do you handle and resume that is now 2 pages… no way around the second page…have to turn in Friday and I am stumped!!
There is nothing wrong with established job-seekers having a two-page resume. Even some exceptional recent college grads may need two pages to showcase all their accomplishments, skills, education/training, and talents and abilities.
In fact, it’s much better to have a two-page resume with normal margins and font size than to try and condense all your information onto one page using narrow margins and tiny type, virtually guaranteeing that no employer is going to even bother trying to read it.
Here are some rules about writing a two-page resume. First, if you need to go to a second page, do so. Just be sure that the second page is at least half full; anything less, and you should find a way to cut/condense to make the information fit on one page. Second, be careful not to divide elements from page one to page two; in other words, do not start a section on page one that carries over to page two. Third, be sure to include a header at the top of the second page identifying it as page two of your resume. Fourth, do not even consider going to a third page.
Some other general rules of resume-writing: focus (and quantify whenever possible) on accomplishments rather than job duties or responsibilities; showcase transferable skills when your work experience has been outside the traditional path; consider a functional style over a (traditional) chronological format when changing careers; consider leaving dates off college degrees to avoid age discrimination.
Find lots more information, articles, tutorials, and resources in the Resume and CV Resources section of Quintessential Careers.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
Ensure that the appearance of your resume holds up when you transmit it electronically. If you are regularly sending your resume as an e-mail attachment, you may want to experiment with sending it to friends’ computers to ensure that the formatting appears consistently from computer to computer.
Display your name boldly and in a large font at the top of your resume to project confidence; a small name makes the job-seeker look timid.
We recommend a resume body font no smaller than 10.5 points and no larger than 12 points. Type at 11 points is often the best choice for resumes. Don’t use justified text blocks; they put odd little spaces between words. Instead, make your type flush left. Employ some typographic variety — judicious use of bold and italics. You can use up to two different fonts on your resume, and make sure they are readable. Avoid underlining because it adds clutter to your resume.
Include pleasing white space on your resume, but don’t go overboard. The default margin setting in Microsoft Word is 1.25”, but you’ll have an easier time fitting everything in if you set your margins at .75” to 1”.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
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